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Samuel Devereux
Origin Born in the middle 1300's as a serf outside Avignon, France the monster who would be known Samuel Devereux was born Anton son of Christophe. As a human he was unremarkable outside of his size, for he towered well over the average height of 5 foot 5 for men. His village was small, but prosperous being located along a major highway allowing for heavy trade and close enough to a city that the King's Guard kept most bandits away. In spring of 1348 a trader came from East, from Italy and beyond, he had traveled far he said and had just barely escaped Nice before a terrible sickness locked the city down. He thankfully hadn't caught it, but he did catch a small stomach bug on the road here but it wasn't anything to be concerned about. The local innkeeper found his body in his room the following day. They buried him in the cemetery outside the village and prayed for him. Two days later the innkeeper followed him. Four days after that, the town followed them both. By the end almost no one had the strength to bury the dead and they lay where they fell, Anton buried his father and mother, finally his little sister. He thought about burying the neighbors too to try and grant thier souls peace, but by then he was infected himself. He went house to house, forging on, dragging the bodies to the center of town. Arranging a massive pyre. Covered in the blood, shit, and fluids of an entire town Anton used the last of his waning strength to dump the pitch on the pyre and set it a blaze. Laying down a little ways away from the fire, watching it spread to the nearby houses he closed his eyes and waited for the disease or the fire to take him. Hearing a noise he opened his eyes and saw death standing over him watching him puzzled. He smiled at Death, he had been waiting and he hurt so bad and was so tired. Alas it wasn't Death, it was Kindred named Kalhed a Cappadocian who was passing through the area and witnessed Antons final actions. Embrace Kalhed was puzzled as this human had smiled at him like he was a long lost friend. This was further puzzling since Kalhed suffered from an extreme version of his clan curse. It was the clan curse to appear as a newly dead corpse. Among the descendants of his bloodline they appeared as rotting monsters or Zombu. Seeing potential in this mortal who was unafraid of death, Kalhed embraced Anton and took him back to his grand-sire Troglodytia. She was in need of a new knight to stand between her and the other denizens of the Long Night. When Anton awoke he was already in transit to Venice, the current residence of Troglodytia. Life among the dead Venice Anton took to his new life with purpose, taking the name Samuel Devereux after a knight that passed through his village once after winning a grand tournament. The newly renamed Samuel stood beside Troglodytia for years in Venice, learning the art of Obfuscate from The Nosferatu Niccolo the Wretch, the Prince of Venice and the secrets of Necromancy from his great grand sire. Troglodytia had chosen to make her home there since, like the Nosferatu, she was a walking breach of The Silence of the Blood later known as The Masquerade. After the Feast of Folly, Troglodytia had striven to prove herself indispensable and became a personal black market, she and hers showing that they could accomplish or acquire anything the clan or others needed for the right price. For a time it worked and she and by extension Samuel thrived. Betrayal Unfortunately a tumor was growing within the Cappadocian Clan. In 1005 C.E. Cappadocious embraced a family of human Necromancers named the Giovanni, and personally embraced their patriarch Augustus Giovanni. Teaching the arts of Necromancy to the entire clan gave the Giovanni great prestige and power, however the Giovanni wanted more. In 1444 Augustus broke into the resting place of Cappadocious himself, the Temple of Erciyes, and diablerized him. The Giovanni then began a systematic purge of all non-Giovanni in the clan. Troglodytia herself was in immense peril as the Giovanni were also based in Venice. Flight Hearing Cappadocious's demise and of the coming purge through her contacts, Troglodytia took her retinue and all the Cappadocians she could save and fled Venice with the help of the Nosferatu. Leaving a trusted childe behind who volunteered to take Troglodytia's place under the fangs of the Giovanni, Troglodytia and her childer, including Samuel, fled the old world, seeking a safe haven in the new world. Many perished in the long voyage, the sailors of the ships used to escape could only provide so much. Others perished when their ships hit rough seas and the ships went under. Finally they arrived in the new world, knowing eventually the Giovanni would follow across the sea them they disappeared into the forests and swamps, hiding among the islands of the Caribbean, living on animals or the indigenous tribes and avoiding the new European settlements as much as possible. La Florida In 1508 following Ponce de Leon the displaced Cappadocians moved to La Florida and the town of St. Augustine, relying on the Spanish war with the Venetians to prevent the Giovanni from noticing their movements. The group lived in La Florida for many years without incident. Samuel thrived, expanding his knowledge of Necromancy, hardening his body and soul. His decades of hiding from the Giovanni and increasing experiments into Necromancy had made him a monster, more than most. He didn't realize it till later but he had forced himself onto the Path of Bones, now called the Path of Death and the Soul. In 1651 Samuel was on a errand for his mistress collecting a rare tome on Necromancy when he was accosted by a Kindred named Antony Giovanni and his two ghouls. The Giovanni had heard of a Necromancer that looked like some kind of rotting monster living not far from St. Augustine somewhere in swamps. The Giovanni wrongly assumed his greater numbers and knowledge of powerful Necromancy would make this an easy fight. He paid for his mistakes as his skin peeled off and his limbs withered. One ghoul perished as his soul was ripped from his body and summarily destroyed. The second ghoul though bleeding from a lance wound to the guts, managed to strike the weakened Samuel down. The ghoul took the book and retreated, seeking his masters sire to hopefully save his life. He didn't make it, but did live long enough to relay Antony and the new Necromancers demise. Samuel wasn't dead though, Troglodytia's bloodline had learned the trick of turning to ash on command, unfortunately Samuel was gravely wounded and needed blood or would sink into torpor. Stumbling for what seemed like hours, he happened upon a cave system as dawn approached. Inside he found the burial chamber of an Indian chief with a blood offering only one week old, unfortunately the blood offering was too old to be of use to Samuel but he figured they'd come back with another and that would be that. Climbing into the long dead chiefs cairn he resumed his ash form and slept. Little did he know the blood offering was to plead with the gods to alleviate the cholera effecting the tribe, they didn't answer and the tribe was wiped out. So Samuel slept. Modern Nights For 363 years Samuel slept, until awakened by a voice in his head telling him to wake up, and the smell of fresh blood. He awoke to find the world had changed. Gone were villages and instead cities spread as far as he could see. He learned as much as he could, as fast as he could, to try to make it in this new world. Eventually he sought out other canites and by covertly listening to them he heard talk of an entire clan of Troglodytia's childer. After much searching he was put in contact with them, Troglodytia was overjoyed to hear of her fallen knights survival. She told him that they hid in plain sight now and had taken the name Samedi after the God of Death of the Caribbean. He then approached the Kindred of St. Augustine and made himself known and available to them. He was present for the so called "Trials of Caine" (see Trials of Caine for more information on those times) and he retained all of his powers when Caine reset time. Powers that included a massive understanding of the powers of Necromancy, putting him into the top 10 Necromancers in the world. Other powers gained during the trials making him more terrifying included the ability to slip across the shroud in an instant and the ability to create Necromantic Mummies and Gargoyles, among others. Truly haunting to his enemies it's even rumored he learned the tricks of Thamaturgy from the Tremere and Vissitude from Tzimisce himself. Refusing to participate this time, he hunted down the Settie Abu and slew him to retrieve the Spellbook of Set and within it the vampire resurrection ritual. Departing St. Augustine he set out and eventually settled in New Orleans, as one of the most powerful Necromancers on earth he earned himself an advisory position in the court of the local Prince. Retaining his Independent status, he made his haven deep under the St. Louis cemetery in the heart of New Orleans. Granting the local prince prestige and no small amount of trepidation at having such a powerful Necromancer in his domain. Deep under New Orleans Samuel continues to learn and train, preparing for the inevitable war with the Giovanni, and dealing with petitioners both Kindred and mortal who come seeking answers and power that only a master of the dead can grant. Appearance and Demeanor In appearance Samuel is typical of the Samedi Clan, his skin and organs had rotted and decayed, with the appearance of a corpse in the final stages of decomposition. Barely enough skin, tendons, and muscle are left to seemingly hold the body together. It doesn't effect his mobility or physical toughness in any way aside from making him revolting. Usually dressed in semi rotted finery taken from the recently buried, he carries a cane imbued with wraithly energy capable of inflicting terrible wounds on the living or undead. Unlike a good many of his kin, Samuel doesn't exude a smell like a rotten body it's more a general mustiness like old books left to rot in the rain and fresh tilled earth. Samuel's eyes do have a slight blue luminescence and his aura, for those that can see it is stained with the hundreds of years of Death Magic under his belt. He also exudes a palpable cold chill, which combined with the changes wrought on him by his adherence to the Path of Bones, make him usually the most terrifying person at a gather. In demeanor Samuel is an intellectual sociopath, he cares not at all for most people or Kindred. He is loyal to his clan but most others could perish and unless it effected him or his experiments he might not notice. Like all of the Samedi he holds to the exact wording of any agreement, as it's a source of pride for the clan. He has been known to be slightly paranoid since the betrayal of the Giovanni and as such he usually has multiple contingency plans to escape or deal with anyone he feels may be powerful enough to try and attack him. Speaking of the Giovanni he detests them with a passion, seeking whenever possible to destroy them. He won't put himself at risk for it though, preferring to wait and plan their destruction with as little risk to himself. Stats Name: Samuel Devereux Clan: Samedi / Cappadocian Generation: 8th Phsyicals: 10 Socials: 13 (+2) Mentals: 10 Brawl Pool: 15 Melee Pool: 15 Dodge Pool: 15 Necromancy Pool: 20 Willpower: 6 Necromancy Paths Known: * The Bones Path - Level 5 * The Ash Path - Level 5 * The Sepulchre Path - Level 5 * The Mortis Path - Level 5 * The Nihilistics Path - Level 4 * The Corruption Path - Level 1 Thamaturgy Paths Known: * Movement of the Mind - Level 4 Other Powers Known: * Fortitude - Level 5 * Obfuscate - Level 4 * Thanatosis - Level 3 * Potence - Level 1 * Vicissitude - Level 2 * Presence - Level 1 * Auspex - Level 1 Rituals Known: * Arise, Cerberus * Strength of Undead Flesh * Black Blood * Apparition * Bystander * Divine Image (Thamaturgy Level 1) Necropolis Haven Rituals Known: * Dedicate the Necropolis * Deny the Living * Reenforce the Grave * Wards Vs Ghouls, Kindred, Fera, Wraith, Demons, & Spirits * Defenders of the Necropolis * Sight of Death * Empower Servants * Lost and Forgotten * Sap Life * Mists of Death * Skull of Warning * Amphora of Life * Halls of the Damned * Sanctuary of Living Death Known Gear: * Wraith-bound Cane (Deadly and Strange Composition) * M-72 Grenade Launcher (Incendiary Ammo, Spread, +1 extra damage) * Personal Grimoire (Unique) * Spellbook of Set (Unique)